sweet and low down

This week's YouCapture prompt was to take a photo from low down. I wonder what the neighbors think when they see me lying in the front yard?

biking and boats and blue skies

What could be better than spending a gorgeous almost-summer afternoon biking with my son to Woods Hole? Blue skies, boats, biking, and a banana-blueberry smoothie at Pie in the Sky. Beautiful.

back in the saddle again

I have had a bad case of bike envy lately. Everywhere I go, people are riding their bikes, soaking up the sun, traveling places. New bikes, used bikes, fancy bikes, humble bikes -- I love them all. I want them all.

I have 2 bicycles in my garage, one too small and one too busted up to ride. They sit there, teasing me with their useless presence. It's been agony, I tell you.


I've been a long-time bike lover. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 26, and I relied on bike travel (and the kindness of friends) to get around. I fondly remember my bikes of the past:

• a little two-wheeler that I rode with the training wheels still on for way too long
  
• a blue no-speed Stingray bike with a banana seat and cool handlebars
• a red 5-speed Schwinn with a wicker basket in front
  
• a 10-speed Italian racing bike (who was I kidding?)
• a silver 10- speed that I bought from a guy on the streets of New York City for $10
• a red 18-speed Schwinn that followed behind my children as they learned to ride bikes of their own
• a blue mountain bike that ended up wrecked and thrown in the woods by my (then) preteen son and his cohorts.

And then I went cold turkey. I turned to walking as my exercise and relaxation. And that's been wonderful. But now I want to move. I want to put some miles behind me. I want to FLY down the road.


So I did it -- I went out and bought myself a new bike. And yesterday I rode ten miles, and it felt great! Oh, of course, it would probably be a good idea if I got a helmet. These Cape Cod roads are a little treacherous.


And by the end of the summer, I won't have to do the walk of shame up the really steep hills. I will pedal all the way.


So I am now the happy owner of a new bike. Nothing fancy. Pretty inexpensive. Serious bicyclists would probably scoff. But it's mine, all mine. And I'm ready to FLY.

freshest blue

This week, in celebration of unofficial summer (and for my one best shot for the "You Capture" assignment), here's my take on what summer on Cape Cod feels like -- full of air and light and sky and blue.

....Then the sea
And heaven rolled as one and from the two
Came fresh transfigurings of freshest blue.